


there’s a human in your heart of hearts

by darlingargents



Series: Ladies Bingo 2017/2018 [10]
Category: Vampire Academy & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Character, Book 4: Blood Promise, Community: ladiesbingo, F/F, Flirting, Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, Questioning Authority, sort of open-ended, sort of? it's very near-canon AU, sydney starts questioning alchemist teachings a lot sooner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 12:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14044194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingargents/pseuds/darlingargents
Summary: Sydney blinked. And mentally shook herself, and looked at Rose. Really looked.Because there was no possible way that Rose was flirting with her. None.





	there’s a human in your heart of hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Ladies Bingo square **Flirting**. Title from Dazzle by Oh Wonder. A brief note on this AU: Sydney realized when she was younger that she's bisexual. Idk if it's canon, but in this AU Alchemist teachings are specifically homophobic, and compare being queer to being a vampire: unnatural, wrong, etc. (Except humans can "repent") Because of this, Sydney started questioning their teachings at a much earlier time than in canon, and thus is actually a lot more comfortable around dhampirs and Moroi by this point.
> 
> This was my complicated AU to Make It Less Creepy, basically.
> 
> I'm also a mildly human disaster who really doesn't feel like pulling out my copy of Blood Promise to make this line up with canon properly, so. The broad strokes of a small part of Blood Promise are in here and the details are "idk". And I also finished writing this at midnight/1am ish so there are probably errors and I'm sorry about that. I'll... fix them. At some point.

They were a few hours into the train ride to Baia when Rose came back into the compartment and flopped down on her bed. Sydney didn’t flinch or try to run this time, just looked up from her book to see if Rose looked worried or panicked or in need of assistance. She didn’t, so Sydney went back to her book.

“No offence, but this is kind of boring.”

Sydney grit her teeth and put her book down. “Bring a book next time.”

“Also boring. More boring, even. But seriously, why is there no entertainment on this whole train?”

“You’re probably supposed to bring a book,” said Sydney, sliding the bookmark into her book and placing it on her pillow. Rose wanted entertainment, so it seemed that they were chatting. So be it.

“Ugh. I can think of much better things to do in here.” She waggled her eyebrows, and Sydney blinked at her.

“I mean, you could try playing cards. Or pull out a laptop.” Rose looked a little confused for a minute, and then nodded.

“Right. Sure. Or… you know. Funner things.” Her eyebrows definitely got in on the action this time, and Sydney froze.

Sydney blinked. And mentally shook herself, and looked at Rose. Really looked.

Because there was no possible way that Rose was flirting with her. None.

But the way Rose’s eyes were roaming over her body wasn’t platonic in the slightest, and while Sydney had been known to completely miss all signs of interest from various acquaintances throughout her life, this was incredibly obvious.

No creature of the night had ever looked at her like that.

The Moroi she met seemed to view her as an annoyance, and kept their interactions brief and professional. Same with almost all of the dhampirs. But Rose had already made it clear that she didn’t really understand what Sydney was.

So maybe it was to be expected that Rose would… flirt with her.

It was strange. It was not something she’d ever expected.

“Um,” she said, and left the train compartment.

Okay, so that was kind of the coward’s way out. But she was freaked out. Rose was a dhampir, and… and a girl.

Sydney had known she liked girls for a long, long time. And had known for just as long that she could never tell anyone. She had sat in services, every Sunday since she was a child, and listened to the Alchemist doctrine, knowing that in their eyes, she was just as bad as the creatures of the night that they hate so much.

Maybe that was why Rose didn’t scare her. Not after seeing Rose protect her when the Strigoi attacked. It had been instinctive, keeping Sydney safe while dispatching the threat. She’d been… questioning, for a while. But that had solidified something in her. _Maybe vampires aren’t that bad_.

With that, and being bi — well. She would be disowned so fast she’d get whiplash. Probably sent to re-education.

She shuddered. Best not to think about that.

But this brought her back to the problem. Did Rose actually _know_ that Sydney was queer? And if so, was she flirting with her as a joke? Mocking her?

Or was Rose actually interested in her?

That, Sydney decided, was very unlikely. So it was probably a joke. Or Rose was just a flirtatious person. Or… or Rose was mocking her, or making her feel uncomfortable on purpose.

The Alchemist in her said that was what it was. Obviously. What else would an evil creature of the night do?

Whatever part of Sydney wasn’t an Alchemist didn’t know.

* * *

It took Sydney the better part of an hour to stop freaking out long enough to go back to the cabin. Rose was sitting there, flipping through a magazine, but she tossed it aside and jumped to her feet as soon as Sydney stepped inside. Literally immediately. The speed was a little scary. She’s not human, a distinctly Alchemist voice reminded Sydney, but she shut it down.

“Look,” Rose said, “I just wanted to apologize. Obviously I made you uncomfortable, and I was kind of joking, but I didn’t mean to like — scare you, or make you think I would do something, because I wouldn’t. Ever. Like, not without your permission, I mean. Not to say that I wouldn’t do anything, ever, because, I mean, you’re pretty cute — okay, I should probably stop talking now.”

Sydney stifled a laugh. “Yeah. Uh, it’s okay. I kinda freaked out. Sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Rose said firmly. “I messed up.”

“It’s fine,” said Sydney. “Really.”

Rose eyed her for a moment, still looking uneasy, but after a moment she nodded, and sat back down.

The rest of the train ride passed uneventfully. Rose mostly kept to herself. Sydney thought that it was kind of a shame. She missed Rose’s witty commentary.

* * *

So, seeing Rose almost die was terrifying.

The car ride through the night the rest of the way to Baia from the cabin was the longest car ride of Sydney’s life. _Please don’t die_ , she thought over and over, and maybe God was listening and maybe He wasn’t, but she thanked him anyway when Rose was okay.

* * *

The days at the Belikov house were almost like a fever dream. One that Sydney didn’t want to end.

She found that she was actually, truly getting something like a crush on Rose. She refused to call it that, because she wasn’t in middle school, but it still felt true.

And being surrounded by dhampirs was making her speed quickly towards thinking that vampires are… people. It was disorienting. Everything seemed to be changing, and she didn’t know how to keep track of it.

When she got the call to go back to her post, it was expected, but she still felt a little sad. She tracked down Rose, and pulled her into the room she’d been sleeping in.

“I have to go,” she said. “I’m being called back.”

“Oh,” Rose said. There was a strange look in her eyes. “Will I see you again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She hoped so, at least.

“Okay.” Rose took a deep breath. “Can I kiss you?”

The question was so unexpected that Sydney’s mind blanked out, and she was nodding before her mind could catch up to her body. A moment later, Rose’s mouth was on hers.

It was a soft kiss, mostly chaste, and so sweet that Sydney felt safer than she ever had. When Rose pulled away, she almost chased her lips before realizing what she was doing and moving back.

Rose let out a weak, almost sad laugh. “I’ve always heard that you regret the things you don’t do, so. Thought I might as well ask.”

“Thank you for asking,” Sydney said. It was all she could think to say.

“No problem. Have a safe trip back.” Rose headed for the door, and then paused, turning back to Sydney. “I hope we see each other again, Sydney.”

And she was gone, before Sydney could answer with ‘me too’.


End file.
